The disconnect between faith and life
It is always fascinating to hear reports about a weekend when I have wondered away for vacation or some other event. Almost always, it is a reminder about how things go on with or without me. Things happen and amazingly, everybody copes one way or another. However, recently the reports leave me to wonder about where faith and life connect.
This past weekend while I was camping, Saint James was visited by a homeless gentleman. It is really not all that rare an occurance really but for some reason this time it became a point of contention for a couple of folks who decided to call the police and have him removed. Mind you, I don’t know every detail so me reactions are more raw responses than reports of every aspect of this incident. One thing that interests me is that Erika was preaching that day about not judging one another and the negative effects of so doing (it is worth listening to that message which is available here in the blog section under messages). Seems kind of ironic. Setting that aside for a moment, I realize that in “our world” people who are homeless are perceived as dangerous or at least unpredictable; I am told third hand that the call to the police was related to safety concerns for our children who were playing outside. I do not know whether or not that is true; I know that Erika has suggested a different kind of response for the future, a more loving one.
There was also something amazing that came of the encounter as well, the kind of thing that makes me get chills up my spine. I am told that two of our band members, after convincing the police no one would be pressing charges, sliced some of the leftover communion bread and made a sandwich for this man and apologized to him for our poor treatment of him. Communion bread became real food for a hungry man. Reconciliation became the possibility out of ostracism and exclusion. I am thinking more this week about my response to people different than I am and ways that we are invited to model Jesus at Saint James. And I am thankful to Tom and Everett for being models for me…
